“I would say that while we had serious reverses and they were unsettling, to put it mildly, we bounced back at the end of the year. We beat two teams that were in playoff runs. We beat them in games that were important for them where they gave their best shot and I was impressed how we rebounded. That played into what was in my mind when I had to make a final call.”

Two games. That’s it. The Bengals’ Week 16 win over the Lions and their Week 17 win over the Ravens played a huge factor in Lewis coming back.

Brown is asked why those two games were more important than the club’s three-game losing streaks during the season. He said some of those losses came down to just one play, and the team could have been better had the ball bounced their way in those instances.